“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur Ward
Inspiring students takes extreme personalization of curriculum and material. It also takes an intense amount of energy from the teacher, bringing new excitement to each day. Each student is motivated by different things, and it takes a great teacher to find what motivates each individual and pursue it. Education should be a personal experience for each student, in order for them to feel like the power of learning is theirs.
I want to challenge my students in each class by having them think critically and not only comprehend the subject, but apply what they learn. Being able to recite definitions or memorize diagrams will not be enough to succeed in my class. Students will have to take what they learn and do something other than write it down. Application is important to developing critical thinking and problem solving skills. This will be evident in the type of assessments that students take in my class, as well as the type of projects, and the type of labs they will participate in. I will never have one type of summative assessment for a unit, because I do not want students to get comfortable with a type of testing, I want them to get comfortable with the idea of critical thinking and analysis. Also, the labs and projects students participate in will allow them their own experimental design, as well as at least one clear way in which the lab can relate to day to day life.
I also want students to better understand themselves and how they think. They should be able to break down the process and see what works and what does not for them. I want students to develop intrapersonally as well as interpersonally because it is important that each adolescent develops as a whole and not just within my content area. The key to this is forming a personal relationship with each student on a level they are most comfortable interacting with teachers. I believe that there is great benefit to recommending students stay after for extra help. This time can be used to strengthen their knowledge on a topic, study strategies, or organizational needs. It can also help a student and teacher work together to play to the students strengths, as well as follow up in weaker areas.
Effective communication has to deal with the prompt and concise delivery of material to students. I never want students to feel that a subject is more complicated based on the delivery by their teacher. I want my words and lessons to always clarify the topic and never build it up to be more difficult than it already is. Many times I felt that the lessons I was being taught were made more complicated by the teacher based on how they communicated the information rather than the complexity of the material itself. I also feel that there should be multiple voices during a lesson. There should be no long periods of time in which mine or any other one person is the only voice heard. This participation should be structured so that the right information is still being presented, but others are adding on their own knowledge and opinions. The classroom is a community of learners and how they interpret, what they are hearing and understanding and how they are analyzing should always be conveyed verbally. This also keeps students involved in the class and active. Students should be generating their own examples of concepts learned. Journals are also an effective way for students to get their ideas and opinion out on paper, if they are not as willing to be vocal. Journals allow students to develop interpersonally if properly executed.
I want my classroom to be a place that cultivates working relationships in partners or groups. It should be understood that there will always be a high level of respect maintained for everyone in my classrooms opinion and ideas. This will be established at the beginning of the year in one of very few steadfast classroom rules. Students should feel secure sharing their questions and opinions within the class and develop a confidence in expressing themselves built on support from peers and encouragement from me. In order to protect students from each other, I will make it clear from the beginning that if you are not there to learn or share in learning, then you cannot stay. This, along with a policy on timeliness, will insure that my students get the most out of the time they spend in my class.
I want to lead students into the world of science with the enthusiasm that I feel for Biology. I want to constantly draw connections of how what we learn is related to their own lives and the world around them. It is extremely important that they see how applicable science is to the world regardless if they like or dislike the subject. I want the passion that I bring to the room everyday to spark students’ interest in learning. Students should develop as responsible members of society. In my class, students will be treated as young adults, and expected to behave with this added responsibility. If students feel that they are being pulled towards adulthood, they will respond accordingly.
In America, teachers are constantly demonstrating and having students follow. From the Teaching Gap we have learned that this will never get us to the level of success that other countries such as Germany and Japan reach. Inspiration and motivation is what students in our classrooms need to be able to reach higher levels of achievement, and great teachers are what can give them this.
Inspiring students takes extreme personalization of curriculum and material. It also takes an intense amount of energy from the teacher, bringing new excitement to each day. Each student is motivated by different things, and it takes a great teacher to find what motivates each individual and pursue it. Education should be a personal experience for each student, in order for them to feel like the power of learning is theirs.
I want to challenge my students in each class by having them think critically and not only comprehend the subject, but apply what they learn. Being able to recite definitions or memorize diagrams will not be enough to succeed in my class. Students will have to take what they learn and do something other than write it down. Application is important to developing critical thinking and problem solving skills. This will be evident in the type of assessments that students take in my class, as well as the type of projects, and the type of labs they will participate in. I will never have one type of summative assessment for a unit, because I do not want students to get comfortable with a type of testing, I want them to get comfortable with the idea of critical thinking and analysis. Also, the labs and projects students participate in will allow them their own experimental design, as well as at least one clear way in which the lab can relate to day to day life.
I also want students to better understand themselves and how they think. They should be able to break down the process and see what works and what does not for them. I want students to develop intrapersonally as well as interpersonally because it is important that each adolescent develops as a whole and not just within my content area. The key to this is forming a personal relationship with each student on a level they are most comfortable interacting with teachers. I believe that there is great benefit to recommending students stay after for extra help. This time can be used to strengthen their knowledge on a topic, study strategies, or organizational needs. It can also help a student and teacher work together to play to the students strengths, as well as follow up in weaker areas.
Effective communication has to deal with the prompt and concise delivery of material to students. I never want students to feel that a subject is more complicated based on the delivery by their teacher. I want my words and lessons to always clarify the topic and never build it up to be more difficult than it already is. Many times I felt that the lessons I was being taught were made more complicated by the teacher based on how they communicated the information rather than the complexity of the material itself. I also feel that there should be multiple voices during a lesson. There should be no long periods of time in which mine or any other one person is the only voice heard. This participation should be structured so that the right information is still being presented, but others are adding on their own knowledge and opinions. The classroom is a community of learners and how they interpret, what they are hearing and understanding and how they are analyzing should always be conveyed verbally. This also keeps students involved in the class and active. Students should be generating their own examples of concepts learned. Journals are also an effective way for students to get their ideas and opinion out on paper, if they are not as willing to be vocal. Journals allow students to develop interpersonally if properly executed.
I want my classroom to be a place that cultivates working relationships in partners or groups. It should be understood that there will always be a high level of respect maintained for everyone in my classrooms opinion and ideas. This will be established at the beginning of the year in one of very few steadfast classroom rules. Students should feel secure sharing their questions and opinions within the class and develop a confidence in expressing themselves built on support from peers and encouragement from me. In order to protect students from each other, I will make it clear from the beginning that if you are not there to learn or share in learning, then you cannot stay. This, along with a policy on timeliness, will insure that my students get the most out of the time they spend in my class.
I want to lead students into the world of science with the enthusiasm that I feel for Biology. I want to constantly draw connections of how what we learn is related to their own lives and the world around them. It is extremely important that they see how applicable science is to the world regardless if they like or dislike the subject. I want the passion that I bring to the room everyday to spark students’ interest in learning. Students should develop as responsible members of society. In my class, students will be treated as young adults, and expected to behave with this added responsibility. If students feel that they are being pulled towards adulthood, they will respond accordingly.
In America, teachers are constantly demonstrating and having students follow. From the Teaching Gap we have learned that this will never get us to the level of success that other countries such as Germany and Japan reach. Inspiration and motivation is what students in our classrooms need to be able to reach higher levels of achievement, and great teachers are what can give them this.